Mirror sales boosts Gentex profit

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gentex Corp. shares jumped as high as 21% on Wednesday after the auto-parts maker said global shipments of its automatic-dimming mirror products surged despite stagnant vehicle production.

The upbeat report comes at a brutal time for the overall supplier group, which last week saw Delphi Corp.
DPHIQ
its biggest player, file for bankruptcy protection.

Gentex
GNTX, +1.38%
led a broad rally across the sector on Wednesday, closing up $3.10 at $18.94.

The Zeeland, Mich.-based company posted a third-quarter profit of $27.9 million, or 18 cents a share, up from $25.2 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 15% to $138.1 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected a profit, on average, of 16 cents a share.

In North America, mirror shipments rose 14%, while light-vehicle production gained only 2%. Diminishing sales of SUVs at General Motors
GM, +0.33%
its biggest customer, slammed Gentex earlier in the year.

Overseas, the company shipped 18% more mirrors than a year ago, even as car and truck production slipped 1% in Europe.

Gentex also said it recently extended its long-term agreement to supply DaimlerChrysler
DCX
with all interior and exterior auto-dimming mirrors through 2009.

For the fourth quarter, the company forecast growth in mirror shipments in a range of 10% to 15%.

"While we currently believe that this may be a conservative estimate, we continue to be cautious due to uncertainties associated with the automotive industry at this time," said Executive Vice President Garth Deur in a statement.

Gentex dominates the market for automatic-dimming mirrors, which use electricity to darken a mirror's surface and cut down on glare, making night driving safer.

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